medicine bow national forestNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94medicine bow national forestTue, 11 Jul 2017 10:29:38 +0000medicine bow national foresthttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org
Bob BeckA forest fire continues to burn in the Medicine Bow National Forest and forest officials say they expect it to grow. The fire is burning in a dense forest that features beetle-killed trees. Medicine Bow National Forest spokesman Aaron Voos says that recent fires that have burned in similar areas have grown substantially. “From what we understand the fire activity is picking up. I think it’s mostly due to the hot dry weather, which is making the fuels receptive to the fire.” Voos says firefighters are working hard to fireproof homes and cabins in the area. He says many are at risk which is why they evacuated residents earlier this week, especially in the Keystone area. “The fire is kind of on multiple sides of those cabins, it’s kind of cabins spread up and down those roads and draws, creeks, and drainages in that area. But from the northern most tip the fire is very close, within maybe an eighth of a mile to a quarter mile.” A type two incident team has taken over management of theKeystone Fire Near Centennial Continues To Burnhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/keystone-fire-near-centennial-continues-burn
105879 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgThu, 06 Jul 2017 00:38:02 +0000Keystone Fire Near Centennial Continues To BurnMelodie EdwardsOne of the state’s most popular recreation areas is getting too much love with roads and camp sites in the Pole Mountain area cropping up everywhere. So the Medicine Bow National Forest is tackling a large-scale travel plan that would help decide what roads and camp sites should be kept, and which need to go. Spokesman Aaron Voos says the agency relied in part on public comments to create their proposed plan. “It’s just going to be just over 30 miles of decommissioning. And so decommissioning means that there was physically a road and there will no longer be a road there. You know, the road base is torn up, it’s re-seeded, it’s changed so it no longer looks like a road.” Voos says, the plan also proposes converting about six miles of roads into off-highway vehicle trails and curbing the number of campsites in the Veedauwoo area by assigning designated camping spots. “There are camp sites just all over the place,” he says. “One little camp site leads to another. It’s kind of the spiderToo Many Roads In The Pole Mountain Recreation Area?http://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/too-many-roads-pole-mountain-recreation-area
82975 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgThu, 05 Nov 2015 23:37:21 +0000Too Many Roads In The Pole Mountain Recreation Area?Melodie EdwardsThe Pole Mountain area of the Laramie Range between Laramie and Cheyenne is gaining steadily in popularity. And all that heavy recreation traffic is starting to show with many new unapproved roads causing damage to the landscape. That’s a problem since the area is also the source for the city of Cheyenne’s water. Aaron Voos is a spokesman for the Medicine Bow National Forest and says that’s why the Forest is hosting a series of public meetings about how to best deal with the increased traffic around Pole Mountain. “We’re not heading into this with a secret map somewhere in the office here of what we think that Pole Mountain road system should look like,” he says. “It’s something where we want to hear from the public and from the other agencies, adjacent land managers, private land owner.” He says he expects a lot of strong opinions on the subject. “There will certainly be differing opinions as far as how people think the Pole Mountain area should be used and what it should look like.Pole Mountain Road System Showing Ecosystem Damagehttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/pole-mountain-road-system-showing-ecosystem-damage
77926 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWed, 15 Jul 2015 18:07:08 +0000Pole Mountain Road System Showing Ecosystem DamageMiles BryanA group of artists marking 1821 border between the United States and Mexico traveled through Wyoming over the weekend. Marcos Ramirez and David Taylor are the artists behind the project, called ‘Delimitations.’ It aims to trace the original, 2,300-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico. That historic border runs through Medicine Bow National Forest here in Wyoming. “A significant portion of the town came out and they were really enthusiastic," says Taylor. there is a young women who has one in her front yard and jokes started flying across the street like “you need to have your passport when you visit my house!” Taylor and Ramirez are marking the border route with metal obelisks that they’re building as they go. The project will continue through August. More information can be found here .Artists Trace U.S.-Mexico Border Through Wyominghttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/artists-trace-us-mexico-border-through-wyoming
61443 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWed, 16 Jul 2014 21:41:07 +0000Artists Trace U.S.-Mexico Border Through WyomingAaron SchrankU.S. Representatives Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Tim Walz (D-MN) introduced a bill Wednesday to address the backlog of trail maintenance in the National Forest Trail system. One year ago, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released the results of a study showing that just one-fourth of Forest Service trails were maintained to the agency’s standards, and that the trail maintenance backlog exceeded $314 million—plus $210 million in annual maintenance. The proposed legislation calls for a strategy to increase partnerships and volunteer programs for trail maintenance. It recommends using fire crews to maintain trails in the off-season and launches a pilot program which would permit outfitters and guides to offset their federal fees through trail work. Dan Smitherman is The Wilderness Society’s Wyoming representative and a former outfitter. He says the Lummis bill is exactly what he and a coalition of hikers, horsemen, climbers, hunters, cyclists, conservationists, and others wereLummis Introduces Bill To Boost Forest Trail Accesshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/lummis-introduces-bill-boost-forest-trail-access
60052 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgThu, 19 Jun 2014 01:11:47 +0000Lummis Introduces Bill To Boost Forest Trail AccessBob BeckA Wyoming man has won a U-S Supreme Court decision over a dispute with the U-S Forest Service. Marvin Brandt of Fox Park swapped his land for 83 acres of Medicine Bow Forest Service land in the 70’s, with the understanding that the land would be his if a railroad that used the land ever stopped running. The railroad abandoned the property in 2003, but in 2005 the Forest Service reclaimed those acres and made it part of a Rails to Trails bike path. But Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said today (Monday) that the Forest Service was wrong to claim that it owns the trail. Brandt was represented by the Mountain States Legal Foundation and attorney William Perry Pendley. “This 83 acres that he obtained from the forest service in exchange for some 220 acres that his father conveyed to the forest service is his to use, it does not belong to the United States. The United States cannot put a trail on it.” He doubts the public will notice much of an impact. “Our anecdotal evidence isWyoming Man Wins U.S. Supreme Court Case Concerning Rails To Trailshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/wyoming-man-wins-us-supreme-court-case-concerning-rails-trails
55126 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgMon, 10 Mar 2014 22:54:34 +0000Wyoming Man Wins U.S. Supreme Court Case Concerning Rails To TrailsWillow BeldenPine and spruce beetles have killed millions of trees across Wyoming and the West. To many, the dying forests are visually unattractive. But there’s a bigger issue. Researchers in the Medicine Bow National Forest are finding that beetle kill has had a major impact on how the forest processes carbon dioxide. Wyoming Public radio’s Willow Belden reports. WILLOW BELDEN: It’s quite a trek to get out to the Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments Site, in the Snowy Range. A team of researchers drives a giant snow cat part of the way, then they switch to cross country skis for the final stretch through the woods. The research station itself is tucked discretely among the trees. There’s a tall metal tower, equipped with fancy instruments, and a small building where computers record the data that’s collected. Engineer John Frank built the tower, and he comes up every week to check the equipment. Today, the wind is blowing at more than 40 miles an hour as he climbs to the top of the tower. BELDEN:Bark beetles turn forest into carbon sourcehttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/bark-beetles-turn-forest-carbon-source
50931 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgFri, 06 Dec 2013 23:18:00 +0000Bark beetles turn forest into carbon sourceThe Associated PressConditions are favorable for firefighters trying to corral one of Wyoming's first significant wildfires this year. The 300-acre wildfire is burning in a remote area 15 miles southeast of Casper, not far from Muddy Mountain. Lighting is believed to have started the fire sometime last weekend. The fire has burned about 300 acres of mixed pine, grass and sagebrush. Medicine Bow National Forest spokesman Aaron Voos said higher humidity and a chance of rain are forecast. Even so, firefighters have requested help from more ground crews and another single-engine air tanker. Two water-dropping helicopters and a small air tanker are already working the fire. Wet spring weather has helped to keep wildfires to a minimum so far this summer after last year's unusually busy fire season.More help sought for wildfire southeast of Casperhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/more-help-sought-wildfire-southeast-casper
43655 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgFri, 12 Jul 2013 22:46:30 +0000More help sought for wildfire southeast of CasperAssociated PressAnticipating a return of hot, dry, windy weather by this weekend, firefighters worked Thursday to build lines around a wildfire in the Medicine Bow National Forest in east-central Wyoming. The Russells Camp fire is located about 30 miles south of Glenrock and has burned just over 4 square miles since Sunday. Cooler temperatures and higher humidity on Wednesday lessened fire intensity, allowing firefighters to gain 5 percent containment. But the fire was more active Thursday with warmer temperatures. The number of firefighters on the scene has increased to 385 with the addition for more highly trained crews. They are aided by five helicopters. Elsewhere in the state, all of Teton County, including Grand Teton National Park, in northwest Wyoming has been elevated to a high fire danger rating.Firefighters try to get ahead of Medicine Bow firehttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/firefighters-try-get-ahead-medicine-bow-fire
25898 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgThu, 21 Jun 2012 23:53:26 +0000Firefighters try to get ahead of Medicine Bow fireBob BeckA wildfire near Wheatland in the Medicine Bow National Forest has grown to around a thousand acres. High winds and terrain in the area have hampered firefighters in their efforts to contain it and they cant come face to face with the blaze. Because of this Forest Service Spokesman Aaron Voos said they are taking a different approach in dealing with it. What they are doing right now is trying to establish a larger perimeter and so they have picked out some ridges, theyve take a good at the topography in the area and theyre trying to pick out a good spot where they can set up a perimeter and put in a fire line. And once the fire actually gets to that spot they have a good chance of containing it. Voos said wind has died down in the area after it caused the fire to grow on Monday. He adds that no structures are currently under threat, but they are ready just in case. No, its actually in a really remote area. There are some structures that are a ways away, kind of in the oppositeA wildlife continues to burn in the Medicine Bow National Foresthttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/wildlife-continues-burn-medicine-bow-national-forest
25109 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWed, 06 Jun 2012 00:32:04 +0000A wildlife continues to burn in the Medicine Bow National Forest